Searching For Atlantis
by three-days-late
Summary: AU: Alfred Jones wants to find his real parents. Arthur Kirkland would like to find some form of employment. Natalia Alfroskaya needs to get away. Romano has his own problems, and together they're going to California to find what utopia means for them.
1. The Prologue

**This was my entry for the Hetalia minibang challenge on livejournal. There's an art to go with it that I'll link to in my profile by hotbabysitter on lj ad luna-wanabe on deviantart. She's pretty awesome so check her stuff out.**

**It was originally an 11,000 word one-shot, but I broke it down into 6 chapters and a prologue for your reading convenience. That also means that the story's already finished and I'll be updating once a day. ****You're welcome.**

**Characters/Pairings: America/Belarus, France/England, Spain/Romano, Prussia, Switzerland, Liechtenstein. Mentions of Canada, Russia (Belarus-Russia), Monaco, and Italy.**

**Enjoy.**

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This is a record of Alfred F. Jones, Natalia Alfroskaya, and Arthur Kirkland's Road Trip Across America, created for the purpose of leaving behind a record on the off chance we end up dead on the side of the road somewhere, written by Arthur Kirkland._

Alfred F. Jones was a 19 year old engineering student at NYU. He was brilliant at what he did, studying to be a scientist or an astronaut or something along those lines. He also hated his life.

Or more accurately, he was dissatisfied with it. His two closest friends were currently studying in Japan and Poland and he hadn't heard from them in months. His love life was non-existent and the only real human contact he had on a daily basis was his rival at school, Ivan Braginski, his neighbor, Arthur Kirkland, and Arthur's boyfriend/roommate/fiancé/it's-complicated-and-we-don't-like-to-put-a-label-on-it Francis Bonnefoy. It should also be mentioned his family life is in shambles, as it is the reason he wanted to go to California this summer in the first place.

Alfred grew up in an orphanage until he was adopted at the age of 10 by a rich and well meaning, but very strict and inattentive couple, mostly for publicity reasons. He stayed with them until they grew bored of him/didn't want to deal with his rebellion stage and kicked him out when he was 16, so Alfred moved into the run-down apartment next to Arthur and Francis. His adopted parents still foot the bill for his living expenses and send him a handsome allowance every month.

Recently, a young man named Matthew Williams had gotten in contact with Alfred due to the fact that they happened to be biological brothers. This sparked Alfred's interest in his real family and what happened to them, so together with Matthew, mostly over the phone and internet, because he lived in Canada, they managed to find out that their birth parents were probably still alive and living in Los Angeles.

So Alfred decided to set out on a road trip to search for the utopia he'd longed for since childhood.

Arthur Kirkland was a 23 year old out of work writer who was madly in love with a man he hated. A native of England, he moved to America for work, complaining the whole time, ended up losing said work, and never bothered to move back. He despised children of all ages, but couldn't help being affectionate towards the poor lad next door. His favorite hobby was cooking, but he could never make anything edible. Arthur Kirkland, for lack of a better word, was a conundrum.

He and Francis were childhood friends that had hated each other since day one and ended up falling in love at around day 3,652. After one of their numerous fights about what neither really remembers, they decided it would be a brilliant idea to move in together, where the fighting hadn't decreased, but the make-up sex did. When Alfred moved in next door, they ended up inadvertently keeping an eye on him. After all, it was a big, scary world out there.

Arthur was currently out of a job, meaning he had to rely solely on Francis's chef gig at some fancy restaurant down the way. It was enough for both of them to get by comfortably, but Arthur's personality didn't like it one bit.

So when Alfred mentioned going to California, Arthur decided to tag along to make sure the boy didn't do something stupid along the way. If nothing else, maybe Alfred's journey could inspire him to create his own little utopia in the world.

Natalia Alfroskaya was an 18 year old student at NYU, studying nothing in particular and everything they had to offer. She had the unfortunate luck to be madly in love with someone who did not return the sentiment. This person just so happened to be Ivan Braginski, Alfred's most hated rival.

She had followed Ivan to college as soon as she got the chance, caring nothing about her friends or family or if the decision was actually right for her, only basing her future on the fact that she wanted to be wherever he was. Natalia knew Ivan wasn't exactly her biggest fan, running away and screaming whenever she approached him, which Alfred found amusing and actually led to their kinda-sorta friendship, but Natalia always thought that she could wear him down with time.

She was wrong, as Ivan was glad to tell her when he had campus police escort her off campus. Natalia spent the night in jail, and when she emerged, no one, not even her sister, wanted anything to do with her and Ivan got a restraining order. She dropped out the next day.

When she heard that Alfred and Arthur were going to California, Natalia thought that would be a perfect opportunity to escape and maybe discover what her utopia really was all about.


	2. Day 1: And So It Begins

**The chapters will get longer. I swear they will. Stop looking at me like that!  
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**Characters for this chapter: America, England, Belarus.  
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**Enjoy.**

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_July 1, 20XX_

_Alfred and I start our road trip in New York City. Natalia ends up joining us in the end. Alfred is searching for something, Natalia is leaving something behind, and I seem to be along for the ride. _

_Leave the city today and head west. I'm driving and Alfred navigates. He says we're going to Los Angeles, so we'll probably end up in Mexico somewhere. Stop at a McDonalds for dinner and a motel for sleep. Natalia gets the bed, Alfred and I fight for blankets on the floor. Not much else happens._

_-Arthur Kirkland_

"Arthur," Alfred whined, "I'm hungry." Then the poking started.

"We haven't even left the state yet," the older man complained, "Can't you hold you a bit longer?"

"But I'm hungry _now_," he pouted.

"We haven't even left the state yet!" This did not stop the pouting. "Natalia, what do you want?"

The girl was sitting in the backseat, staring forlornly out the window at the passing scenery, and didn't even bother looking up to answer. "Whatever's fine. I don't care either way."

"Which is why we should stop to eat," Alfred declared, "Look, a Mickey D's is coming up."

"Her indifference doesn't automatically mean you win. If we keep stopping on your every whim, it will take us a month to reach California."

"No worries. We've got time. Let's stop for food."

"We're not stopping for food and that's final!"

They ended up stopping for food.

Later, while still in New York State, Alfred whined about being sleepy, and how they should stop for the night. Arthur complained about how they haven't even left state lines yet, and Natalia was indifferent. They ended up stopping at a motel inside state lines.

"There's only one bed…" Alfred states.

"Obviously. We don't have much money on us and this was the cheapest room," Arthur sighs. "Natalia, you can have the bed. Alfred and I will take the floor."

"What? But I want the bed," Alfred whined, causing the older man to smack him on the head.

"A gentleman always caters to a lady's needs," he stated in his matter-of-fact voice, "Natalia gets the bed."

"I don't care," she said, "Alfred can have the bed if he wants."

The young man looked ecstatic about it, but in the end, shook his head and said, "It's alright. Real heroes can sleep on the floor."

And that was the end of that discussion.


	3. Day 2: Stopping in Cleveland

**Sorry about that wait. Rl decided to, well, be rl. DX  
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**Characters for this chapter: America, England, Belarus, Romano, Prussia  
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**Enjoy.**

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_July 2, 20XX_

_Alfred is driving today. Natalia navigates. After getting nowhere yesterday, we manage to reach Cleveland, OH today. Stop at a diner for breakfast in New York, a roadside burger stand on Alfred's insistence in Pennsylvania for lunch, and another McDonalds in Cleveland for dinner. The rest of us will probably be sick of McDonalds before we reach Chicago._

_Against my better judgment, we picked up a hitchhiker who calls himself Romano in Pennsylvania today. If we all end up dead, I suggest him as the primary suspect, but as much as I hate to admit Alfred being right, he seems harmless. He won't tell us anything about himself or where he's going, and I doubt Romano is his real name, so I'm keeping my guard up._

_-Arthur Kirkland_

"Why are you stopping?" Arthur forcefully demanded as Alfred started to slow down.

"Hitchhiker. Just picking him up," he explained.

"Are you mad? You can't just pick up a random stranger on the side of the road! I'm not even sure hitchhiking is legal in this day and age."

"All the more reason we should pick him up," Alfred explained, "so a cop doesn't."

"For all you know he could be a crazed serial killer after our organs! Keep driving."

"No. As the driver, I'm making the executive decision to pick him up."

"You don't have executive decision making powers just because you're the driver! You have control over when we stop and what's on the radio and that's it!"

"Yeah, and I say we stop now and pick this guy up."

"Ugh," Arthur rested his head against Alfred's seat, "Natalia, talk some sense into him."

"I don't-"

"Bloody hell woman, he's going to bring some stranger into the car with us! Start caring!"

Natalia turned and hit him with an icy glare. "It's fine. What's one more person in the car anyway?"

Arthur resigned himself to bashing his head against Alfred's headrest while the car came to a complete stop in front of the hitchhiker.

"Hello!" Alfred greeted happily after he rolled down Natalia's window, "Where are you heading stranger?"

"That depends," the hitchhiker leaned against the window, "where are you going?"

"Los Angeles, California."

He smirked and tilted his head, causing the curl on top of his head to bobble. "Then I guess I'm going to California."

"Really? Awesome, what a coincidence," Alfred smiled naïvely at him as Arthur unbuckled his seatbelt and shifted over so he could lean over Natalia's headrest and glare at the hitchhiker directly.

"Of _course_ you're heading to California. You couldn't _possibly_ be thinking about robbing us blind and leaving our decapitated corpses on the side of the road now could you," Arthur gained a smirk to match the mysterious man's as he continued, "Just what makes you think you have any right to enter this car?"

"Bastard," the hitchhiker snarled, "The driver just gave me permission!"

"See? Told you driver has executive powers," Alfred taunted in a sing-song voice, causing Arthur to shoot him a glare.

"We need to make this decision as a group Alfred! And I vote against letting him in the car."

"I'm all for letting me in the car," the stranger stated.

"_You_ don't get a vote."

"Well, _I _get a vote, maybe two since I'm driving, and I say he can come."

"You still only get one brat! Natalia, what do you say?"

She turned to scrutinize the hitchhiker for the first time, causing him to go pale and sweat slightly, probably had him rethinking this decision in the first place.

"…Can you pay for your own food?"

"Y-yeah…," he coughed awkwardly and took a step back, "I have some money…"

"Enough for gas and a room? We've been splitting the bills; it would be easier on everyone to split it all four ways instead of three, especially you Arthur."

Arthur muttered something incoherent and settled back into his seat when the hitchhiker nodded.

"So he can come?" Alfred asked, smile back on his face.

"Yes, it's not like he's going to get in our way much anyway, if he is heading in the same direction as us."

"Awesome! Hop in stranger!" Alfred unlocked the rear passenger door for him. Arthur grumbled some more and moved to make room for him as the door was opened and a small bag was tossed in the middle seat. The stranger scrambled in and shut the door shortly after, and Alfred wasted no time slamming on the gas pedal and gunning it back down the deserted back road.

"Alfred Jones by the way," Alfred said as he topped off at 75 mph, "this cheerful gal is Natalia Alfroskaya, and the grumpy old man in the back there is Arthur Kirkland."

"Don't give him our full names idiot!" Arthur barked, "Now he'll know how to find us!"

"Yeah, I'm sure a Jones from New York is going to be so easy to track down," the hitchhiker said as he rolled his eyes.

"So…what's your name?" Alfred asked as he made eye contact with him through the review mirror.

"You can call me Romano."

"…Romano what?"

"Just Romano. Nothing more, nothing less."

"If you're trying for the 'mysterious hitchhiker' persona," Arthur smirked at him, "I believe you're failing miserable."

"Who asked you anyway asshole?" Romano snapped and tossed his bag at Arthur's head.

"Yes, _far_ too much of a temper for that archetype."

"See?" Alfred smiled from the front, "We're all getting along great."

"Eyes on the road git."

* * *

"Is this all we're going to eat?" Romano complained as he stared down his burger, "McDonalds? We're in a city now; we can eat real food you know."

"Hey!" Alfred managed to sound offended, "This is edible, so that means it is real food."

"I believe that depends on your definition of edible," Arthur said, disgusted as he too stared down his alleged food.

"All I'm saying is that who knows the next time we're going to be in a city," Romano scoffed, "We should take advantage of that."

"We should get to Chicago tomorrow if there's no traffic," Natalia informed him.

"I – well, yeah, but I'd still like some real food. And what's with that cheap hotel room you got us anyway?"

"_You_ are a hitchhiker!" Arthur shouted, "You are _leeching_ off of us! If you don't like the accommodations, then go somewhere else! You have the ability to do that!"

"Yeah…well," he blushed and adverted his gaze, "Che, I don't need to explain myself to you!" he chucked his half eaten burger into the nearby garbage can and stormed out of the restaurant with a hasty "I'll see you back at the hotel" thrown over his shoulder.

Arthur angrily turned to face his other two companions, who were staring at him as if they were disappointed in his actions.

"Why did you go and make him upset like that Artie?" Alfred asked.

"_I _made him upset? He's leeching off of us and he acts like we owe _him_ a favor."

"It's a small car," Natalia pointed out as she turned to stare out the window, "Things will get…awkward."

"Well what do you want me to do about it? He's the one at fault here."

"Just, go apologize," Alfred sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, "I know you're all tense because you haven't gotten laid in a while-"

"Th-that has nothing to do with anything!" Arthur denied, "H-how do you…why would you even insinuate that-"

"But," he interrupted, "just, find him and apologize."

"And get him something to eat," Natalia added, "He did look hungry."

"You two are wankers and impossible," Arthur sighed in defeat, "Fine, but if I'm going to go apologize to our leech, I want you two to do something for me two." They looked at him expectantly as he stood up, "Just…don't do anything stupid. I know being teenagers alone in a strange city may seem exciting, but it's quite dangerous and I'm not up to bailing you two out of jail at the moment."

"C'mon Artie, us? Get into trouble?" he beamed up at him, "Do you really think _Natalia _and I are the type to get into trouble?"

"With you Jones, I honestly never know," but he sighed and went out to chase down his leech. As soon as he was gone, Alfred gulped down the rest of his burger and Natalia finished off her drink.

"I saw a bar a few blocks down," she said in her monotone, "It looked shady. I doubt they'll scrutinize ids too hard."

"I still have some fake ones in my wallet," Alfred said as he pulled out said wallet and flipped through it, eventually taking out two plastic cards and handing one to Natalia, who took it and stared at it.

"…Why does this say I'm a middle aged Japanese man?"

"Well, that was Kiku's before he went to Japan…"

"It will have to do, I suppose," she tucked it into a pocket and stood to throw her garbage away. Alfred snatched her tray from her hand before she could and threw out both of their trash out as Natalia walked towards the door instead, stopping just outside to wait for Alfred to catch up. As soon as he did, he offered her his arm, which she accepted without much protest, and they were off to explore the city nightlife.

* * *

They got into the bar with no problems, and Alfred was able to buy them both drinks, again with no problems. Natalia picked out a booth in the back corner of the bar, hoping that no one would bother to disturb them there. Alfred gave her a drink and sat down across from her as the two of them descended into an awkward silence.

"So…how are you?" he asked in an attempt to break it. Natalia merely glanced up and continued ignoring him.

"Talking wouldn't kill you, you know," he said, "nor would smiling."

"I know what everyone on campus is saying about me," she snapped at him, "I don't know what possibly possessed you to let me come along with you, but it doesn't mean we have to get along. It doesn't even mean we have to be friends."

"I don't care what everyone else is saying," Alfred frowned as he leaned back, "I invited you 'cause I like hanging out with you and you seemed like you needed a break from New York. I don't have an ulterior motive…unless you want me to have one," that last line was delivered with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

Natalia ground her teeth and was about to snap back at him when they were interrupted by a shout of "Mattie!" from across the bar. Both teens looked over to see an albino running towards them and slide in the booth next to Alfred, wrapping his arm around them like they were the best of friends.

"Mattie! What're you doing in Cleveland man?" the albino smiled at Alfred, "I thought you were still in Vancouver!"

"I am, I mean, he is. I guess," Alfred blushed slightly and tried to shift away from the strange man. Natalia leaned back in the booth with her drink, offering no help whatsoever, "I think you've got the wrong person. My name's Alfred, Alfred Jones."

"Huh? Alfred?" the man took a closer look at him, much to Alfred's discomfort before leaning back and taking a sip from his beer, "Weird. You know, you look _just _like this kid I know from Canada, Matthew Williams."

"Eh? You know Matt?" Alfred's original discomfort vanished instantly, "He's my brother!"

"No shit. Didn't know he had a brother," the albino chugged the rest of his beer and slammed the glass against the table, "The name's Gilbert Beilschmidt, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Gilbert," Alfred eagerly shook his hand, "this is my friend Natalia."

"Hello Natalia," Gilbert gave her a once over with a look in his eyes that clearly liked what he saw. Natalia responded with a quick but fierce kick to his shin, "That's cool. I like 'em feisty."

"So, Gilbert," Alfred interrupted with an awkward cough, "How do you know Matt?"

"Worked in Canada for a bit," he answered as he snatched another beer from a passerby, "He was…an interesting kid."

"What were you doing in Canada?"

"I was working! Didn't I say that? I'm a doctor, surgeon to be precise, and they need some of my awesome surgical-like expertise up there."

"What brings you to America then?" Natalia asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he winked, causing her to kick him again.

"I would!" Alfred shouted, "Can you tell us?"

"Sure kid. I'm looking for someone. You haven't seen him by the way have you?" Both teens shook their heads, "Shame, could've saved me so much time."

"Hey, it's a big city! I'm sure you'll find him."

"Kesesese, I like your spirit kid," Gilbert signaled to the bartender, "Next round's on me!"

* * *

"You're pretty," Alfred slurred as Natalia attempted to drag him back to the hotel they were staying at.

"And you're quite drunk," she replied. She really should have just left him there for Gilbert or someone else to deal with. How was she supposed to know the boy couldn't hold his liquor?

"Pshaw, am not," he attempted to argue, "And it's true n'matter wha' state 'm in."

Natalia didn't say anything, just kept dragging him along the streets praying she ran into Arthur or Romano or someone else to hand him off to.

"Ivan's 'n idiot," he continued rambling, "I'd let ya stalk me 'ny day babe."

"It would be in your best interest to shut up now."

"But, but but but…"

"…But what?"

"I forget. You're really pretty."

Natalia contemplated quickly killing him there or waiting to get back to the room so she could prolong the torture.

"Like seriously though, wha' didya ever see in a jerk like Ivan?"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand the complicated matters of the heart."

"Try me."

She stopped walking and let go of Alfred. Without her support, he ended up leaning against a nearby wall instead, patiently waiting for her to tell her story. It was late (or was it early?) and the street was empty, just an Alfred, calmly listening to what she had to say.

"Well, I suppose…"

"There you are!" a very British voice shouted from down the street. Both heads turned to see a very angry Arthur coming towards them. "Where the hell were you?"

"Artie," Alfred whined, "You totally ruined the moment!"

"And you're completely pissed!" Arthur exclaimed before he turned on Natalia, "I thought I told you two to stay out of trouble!"

"No one died, and he's not driving tomorrow," she shrugged, "No harm done."

"Yes, I do believe harm has been done!"

"Did you find Romano?"

"I, well, yes, I did, but I believe you are missing the point-"

"Where is he?"

"Back at the room. We ended up screaming at each other for a few hours and forgot the reason for the row in the first place, and when we got back he just sort of passed out on the bed, but-"

"Then no harm is done. We should get some sleep and head out early tomorrow if we want to get there in a reasonable amount of time," she stated before sauntering off in the direction Arthur came from, leaving him to deal with Alfred.

"Stupid girl," he muttered as he slung Alfred's arm around his shoulders, "Who does she think she is, ordering me around like that. Bloody twat."

"Hey, dun talk 'bout her that way," Alfred groggily protested, "I like her."

"I know you do; you make it very obvious, although I'm starting to doubt your taste in women…"

"Yeah, well I'm startin' t'doubt yer face!"

"You do that lad, you do that."


	4. Day 3: 106 Miles to Chicago

**And here's the next chapter!  
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**Characters for this chapter: America, England, Belarus, Romano, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Prussia.  
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**Enjoy.**

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_July 3, 20XX_

_After our late night, Romano woke us all up at some godforsaken hour demanding we leave right away without giving us an explanation until we were on the road. Apparently he spotted an 'associate' of some kind and couldn't possibly be seen by him. Needless to say, he drove. I navigated. Alfred slept off a hangover in the back with Natalia._

_Alfred demanded breakfast at another McDonalds, but for lunch Romano insisted on stopping by a diner where he knew the owners, a brother and sister pair who were not so happy to see us. At least, the brother certainly wasn't. The sister seemed fine with us stopping by. We arrived in Chicago just before dinner. I will have to keep a closer watch on Alfred and Natalia this time._

_-Arthur Kirkland_

* * *

"Wake up you bastards and Natalia!" Romano shouted as his new companions grumbled and attempted to shut him up by throwing pillows at him, "We got to get back on the road!"

"Wanker," Arthur somehow got his hands on the bible that came in every room and chucked it at his head, "it's five in the morning!"

"And we need to get moving!" he shouted and kicked Arthur from his spot on the floor, "And don't throw this!"

"Urg, my head…" Alfred complained, "Do we really have to go now?"

"Yes, yes we do," Romano tossed a pair of pants and a shirt at his head, "Now let's go!"

"'M not going anywhere without breakfast first," he mumbled before turning back over and falling asleep again.

"I second that motion," Arthur declared as he and Natalia followed suit.

"You guys are idiots! Completely hopeless idiots! I should have stayed in Pennsylvania damnit!"

"Good, then we'd be able to get some blooming sleep."

"Fine, bastard, be that way," he snatched Alfred's keys from the nightstand, "I'll just drive to California myself."

"Wait no stop give me my car back!" Alfred jumped up from his position on the floor and tackled Romano to the ground, waking up Natalia and Arthur in the process.

"Since you are all so very kind to wake up now, may we get going?"

Arthur sighed, knowing he wasn't getting back to sleep at this rate, and helped pack their things and check out of the hotel. He could sleep on the ride there.

* * *

They stopped by a gas station somewhere in Indiana when Romano, after driving like a maniac, looked at the meter and discovered they were almost out. Alfred and Natalia went inside the store to buy snacks for all of them while Romano dealt with the gas pump. Arthur meanwhile took the opportunity to sneak off to find a phone booth.

"_Bonjour! You have reached Francis and Arthur! Unfortunately we are busy in the bedroom right now having very kinky sex and cannot possible answer your call-"_

_"Stupid frog! Don't put that on there!"_

_"-But we will get back to you as soon as we're done, although that may take awhile. The English are very perverted."_

_"Delete that this instant! You can't possibly use that you-"_

_BEEP_

"Francis, i-it's Arthur," he always felt awkward talking to machines, "I thought I told you to change that recording. Uh, anyway, i-it seems I've missed you, so I'll just…try again later I suppose. Right, well, cheers," he quickly hung up the phone.

"Was he there?" Arthur jumped and turned around to find that Alfred had finished his shopping, "Did you tell him I said hi?"

"No, I just got the machine," he pushed passed him on his way back to the car where Romano and Natalia were waiting.

"He's probably just busy at work or something."

"Yes, probably."

"Here," he held out one of his snacks and a bottle of water for Arthur, "They didn't have any tea, only iced, and you always complain when I make you some."

"Thank you," he grabbed the food stuffs and continued on his way.

"Y'know he misses you too," Alfred prattled on, "and he's going to feel like an idiot for missing your call."

"Yes, I suppose so."

"So cheer up old man," he grinned, "Don't be such a downer."

Arthur attempted a smile, which seemed to pass by Alfred's standards, as he grinned and jogged ahead. Arthur sighed and opened the bottle of water, taking a sip before heading back towards the car and climbing in the passenger's seat.

* * *

"This place looks closed," Alfred commented as Romano continued to bang on the door to the diner. There were in Illinois, about three hours away from Chicago.

"It always looks closed, but trust me, they're in there."

"We should've just stopped at that McDonalds we saw before…"

"Fuck no. I'm sick of burgers, and I've only been traveling with you for a day!" he pounded on the door even harder, as if his life depended on it.

Suddenly a blonde man holding a gun opened the door and shouted, "Can't you see we're closed?"

Alfred stepped in front of Natalia as everyone but Romano backed away slowly. Romano just smirked up at him.

"It's been a while, hasn't it Vash?"

The man called Vash lowered his gun a tad and stared wide-eyed at Romano. "I thought for sure you'd be dead by now."

"Still alive and kicking and starving. Get us some food, bastard. This is a diner isn't it?"

"We've closed shop!" he shouted and raised the gun again; "We aren't taking anymore customers. Go away."

"Brother," a younger blonde girl came to the door as well, "What's going on out here?"

"Lili, I thought I told you to stay inside!"

"But you were taking so long, and I was starting to get worried, oh," she caught sight of the four travels outside, "Are these customers?"

"It doesn't matter if they are, because we're closed."

"But we still have some food left…we could feed them if we wanted too."

"And we have money," Arthur added, "So we'd be able to pay you for your services."

"Please feed us," Alfred threw in his patented puppy dog eyes for good measure, "We promise we'll be good…"

Vash ground his teeth, "Fine! You can come in, but don't make a mess!" he pushed the door opened and disappeared into the kitchen. Lili took it upon herself to show her new customers to a table.

The diner was deserted. Several boxes were packed and piled up in the main dining area, leaving Lili to lead her guests to a booth on the other side of the establishment instead.

Alfred had to ask, "You guys moving or something?"

"Yes," Lili answered as she handed out the menus, "Business has been slow lately. Before you four, we hadn't had a customer in weeks."

"A small diner on the back roads probably isn't the best place to make a living," Arthur commented.

"We used to live in the city, but after our parents got divorced, I didn't want to stay there anymore, so my brother took me out here instead. We're planning on moving back to Chicago at the end of the week though…you'll probably be our last customers. But, enough about our problems, I'm supposed to be serving you. What would you like to eat?"

They placed their orders and Lili joined her brother back to the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, Arthur turned on Romano.

"So, you know them?"

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. What's it to you limey?"

"Since you're stuck with us until California, it would be best if we knew a little something about you. For example, if you have a friend who owns a diner on our route, or if you have associates you need to avoid for some reason."

"My problems are my own, alright?" he slammed a fist on the table, "I'm not prying into your life, so why pry into mine bastard?"

"You invited yourself into our car! I believe that means you owe us some sort of explanation!"

"Dudes, chill," Alfred said, "Your right Romano, we don't have a right to pry into your life, but if you're going to wake us up at crazy early hours, I want a reason."

Romano sighed and looked out the window before answering, "Vash is a friend of my family. We go way back, although I'm not all that acquainted with his sister. When the two of them left Chicago, we sort of lost touch, although I have run into Vash on occasion, alright? Nothing strange about that."

"…And you woke us up at crazy early morning hours because…?"

"It's not going to hurt you in anyway. Don't worry about it."

Before anyone could protest that statement, Lili returned with their food. They ate in relative silence, broken periodically by Alfred's need to fill it. When they finished, Romano insisted on having a word with Vash and Arthur was allowed to use their phone, leaving Natalia and Alfred alone at the table while Lili cleaned up.

"When are you going back to the city?" Alfred asked.

"At the end of the week…"

"You don't seem too happy about it."

"Our parents' divorce was messy, and there were a lot of painful custody battles for me and my brother. It just hurts to be there sometimes, but with the diner failing, we don't have much of a choice."

"What happened to your parents?"

"I…assume they still live in Chicago somewhere," she answered, turning her head away and concentrating on her work, "As soon as Vash turned eighteen, he took me and came out here, since I don't like the city much anymore."

"I've never met my real parents," Alfred leaned back and stared out the window, "I was adopted away at a young age, although those parents don't really care what happens to me either."

"I'm very sorry to hear that," and she did look truly sorry.

"At least you have your brother…I still haven't met mine yet."

"I do owe a lot to him, but at least you have Mr. Kirkland, right?"

"Artie?" Alfred chuckled, "He's just my neighbor. I'm technically supporting him you know."

"Oh, right, sorry. I just assumed…"

"It's alright. Hey, how much money would you need to keep this place up and running?"

"Why do you ask Mr. Jones?"

"You can just call me Alfred. My adopted parents still give me money when I ask them, so I was thinking maybe I could give some to you."

"Th-that…you don't have to do that for us Mr. Alfred!"

"It's no problem! Consider it a tip for that tasty meal you served us," he flashed her one of his Hollywood smiles, "How much do you need?"

"W-well, I do recall my brother saying something about five thousand dollars…"

"Awesome! I'll send you six just to be safe." He smiled at her, causing Lili to blush and smile back.

"Y-you don't have to-"

"I know, but I want to."

"I-in that case, thank you very much, Mr. Alfred," she bowed slightly before gathering all their used dishes and hurrying back to the kitchen.

"You always have to play the hero, don't you?" Natalia commented when she was gone.

"Haha! What's so bad about that?" he smiled at her as well.

"It's going to get you in trouble someday," she turned to face the kitchen as Alfred continued staring at her. "You probably don't remember much about last night…"

"Sorry about that," he responded quickly, "if I said or did anything out of line, I mean."

"You were fine, except for the part where I had to drag you back," Natalia flipped her hair behind her shoulder and turned to face him directly, "You…asked what I ever saw in Ivan though."

"I've always wondered that," Alfred blushed slightly as he turned to look out the window again, "I mean, you're way out of his league…and he's a real jerk on top of that. Sorry if I hit a nerve or something."

"I don't know," she began after a pause, "if you've ever been in love, but Ivan was my first love. He stood up for me when the other children would pick on me and my sister. When it seemed like the rest of the world abandoned us, Ivan was always there, and he became a comfort in my life, a constant in an ever changing world, and I wanted to hold onto that, maybe a little too much. You only see his bad side, because that's all you want to see, but Ivan Braginski has a lot of good in him too."

"…You really do love him, don't you? Even after everything he put you through?"

"I do."

Alfred bit his lip before his next statement, "Do you think…you could ever learn to let him go?"

Natalia caught his eyes in the reflection of the window, "I just might."

* * *

"You know Artie, you don't have to tag along with us…" Alfred stated.

"Apparently I do, or you come back raging drunk," Arthur crossed his arms, ending the matter there. After dinner Romano had wandered back to the hotel, claiming to have a headache, leaving the other three to explore Chicago without him.

"I think that boy is hiding something," Arthur commented offhandedly.

"Who, Romano? Of course he's hiding something," Alfred chuckled, "Everyone has their own little secrets."

"Why do I have a feeling his secrets are going to get us killed?"

"Uh, because you're a paranoid stick in the mud? Seriously, relax. He said whatever he's hiding isn't going to hurt us, so it's not going to hurt us."

"You," Natalia added, "need to stop trusting people so blindly or it's going to get you killed one day."

"Hahaha! It's nice knowing you care…"

"I don't care," she muttered and turned away blushing.

Before he could comment, they were interrupted by a shout of "Mattie!" and Alfred being tackle-hugged to the ground by an albino.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" Arthur shouted.

"Huh? Oh, it's Alfred! Hey man, what brings you to Chicago?"

"Still heading to California," Alfred smiled at Gilbert as he helped him up, "I should ask you the same thing."

"Still looking for that guy. You haven't seen him have you?"

"Nope," Alfred grinned as the two kept talking like they were old friends.

"…Natalia," Arthur asked after a moment, "who is he?"

"Some random loser we met in Cleveland. Apparently he knows Alfred's brother and they hit it off."

"Who's this?" Gilbert asked upon noticing Arthur standing there, "and hello Natalia," she punched him in the face when his eyes lingered on her chest.

"This is my friend/neighbor guy, Arthur Kirkland," Alfred introduced.

"Huh, Kirkland…" Gilbert looked up, trying to remember something, "Why does that name sound familiar…"

"Perhaps you have met one of my brothers," Arthur responded, "in which case, I am very sorry."

"Naw, it's all cool," Gilbert smirked and playfully smacked Arthur's shoulder. "I'd love to stay and chat with you guys, but I really need to find this guy."

"What guy was this again?"

"Yeah…I never told you about him have I?" Gilbert chuckled, "Just some Italian. I had him for a moment, but then I lost track of him in Pennsylvania somewhere…pretty sure he's heading west though."

"What makes you say that?" Natalia asked.

"Well, north is too cold for him, south is too hot, and he came from the east. What other direction would he go in?"

"What does your Italian look like?" Arthur asked.

"He's got…you know, eyes and ears and all that…" Gilbert scratched his head, "Green eyes, auburn hair…weird ass curl sticking out of his head. Probably the grumpiest personality I've ever come across. Have you seen him?"

Arthur smirked, "As a matter of fact-"

"Nope!" Alfred shouted and forced out a laugh, "Never heard of anyone that matches that description perfectly ever. Hahahaha!"

"Really?" Gilbert gave him a once over, causing Alfred to sweat and twitch nervously, before he sighed and turned to leave, "Then I guess I should get going. Like I said, I really need to find him. _Auf wiedersehen_," he left with a wave.

"What was that all about Alfred?" Arthur whispered harshly as soon as Gilbert was out of sight, "We could have gotten rid of Romano right there and then!"

"I don't know why Gilbert is looking for him…but if Romano doesn't want to be found, then we shouldn't let him be found."

"What kind of daft logic are you coming up with now boy?"

"Romano's traveling with us, so that means he's one of us, our mate if you will. Mates don't sell each other out."

"We've known the prat for less than a day! That does not qualify him for matehood."

"My car, my rules. We're not selling out Romano."

"What if he turns out to be some kind of serial killer," Natalia suggested, "and Gilbert is trying to bring him in?"

"…We're not selling out Romano until we find out more information."

They cut their night short and went back to their hotel room, intent on doing just that. When they arrived, Romano was wide awake on the bed, pigging out on room service.

"You better be paying for that yourself wanker," Arthur grumbled, "and you don't look very sick."

"I am, shut up! I'm very sick damnit, so sick that I need to eat this pizza."

"Why is Gilbert looking for you?" Alfred asked right off the back.

Romano scrambled around in surprise and ended up falling off the bed, taking most of the blankets with him, "Y-you ran into Gilbert…and he's here?"

"Yeah, why's he looking for you?" he tried asking again, but Romano was already busy with packing their bags to pay them any more attention.

"We're leaving!" he announced, "The sooner we leave the city, the sooner we can get to California right?" His attempt to shut one of the bags was thwarted by Natalia's foot and glare.

"Why is a perverted German looking for you?" she asked, the intensity of her stare causing Romano to gulp and back away a bit.

"I…that's none of your concern…"

"If you want to leave the city," Arthur rounded on him as well, "you're going to have to tell us. Now."

Romano withered under his glare and sat down in the nearby chair, "I…may have gotten into a fight with my family…a pretty nasty one at that. I accused my brother of some things, and it all went downhill from there…"

"So," Alfred asked, "you ran away?"

"Yeah. I'd been meaning to get away from them for a while, so when the excuse presented itself…but they've sent that fucking potato bastard after me…"

"Another friend of the family I presume?" Arthur asked.

"If you could call it that. Whatever, he does what my grandpa wants, and it looks like he wants me home."

"And you don't want to go home," Natalia summed up, "so you're putting as much distance between you as possible."

"Yeah. You can kick me out of your little road trip and tattle to Gilbert if you want," Romano stood and grabbed his bag from where he had hurriedly packed it at the foot of the bed, "I'm still going to keep heading west."

"We're not gonna kick you out," Alfred stated, "I mean, you're one of us, and that wouldn't be very fair."

"I've only known you for about a day! You've got to be the most naïve bastard in the world to trust me after such a short time!"

"And he is," Arthur concurred, "but I also see no reason to kick you out."

"Neither do I," Natalia added, "I never trusted Gilbert from the beginning."

"So," Romano stared between the three of them, "we can leave the city now?"

"I say we get some sleep here first, since we already paid for the room," Arthur proposed, "We can leave early tomorrow morning."

Alfred and Natalia agreed, so despite Romano's protests, they opted to stay the night in Chicago.


	5. Day 4: Get Your Kicks

**Sorry about that whole dropping off of the face of the earth thing I did. I'll get the rest of this up asap.  
**

**Characters for this chapter: America, England, Belarus, Romano, France, Spain.  
**

**Enjoy.**

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* * *

_

_July 4, 20XX_

_Today was Alfred's birthday. He says it wasn't the worst he's ever had, but it's still probably somewhere in the top three._

_Romano drove again today after waking us up at another godforsaken early hour. We were a bit more sluggish this morning and didn't leave Chicago until 6 AM, then proceeded to drive for 12 straight hours until we reached Oklahoma City. 12 straight hours. Alfred's constant nagging and playing of the birthday card got him to stop for a brief lunch at McDonalds, but that was it._

_We did get to see the local fireworks show, but other than that, not much happened. We were stuck in a car for twelve hours._

_-Arthur Kirkland_

"_If you ever plan to motor west,  
Travel my way, take the highway that's the best,  
Get your kicks, on route 66." _Alfred started singing off key somewhere in Missouri.

"Not necessary," Romano barked at him from the driver's seat as he sped along at about fifty over the speed limit. Alfred smirked at him though the review mirror and continued anyway:

"_It winds through Chicago to LA,  
More than two thousand miles all the way,  
Get your kicks, on route 66._"

"I am not putting up with this shite for two thousand miles!" Arthur barked, "For the love of god Romano, stop somewhere and he'll shut up."

"Don't bring god into this," he muttered as he kept speeding along, making no move to stop.

"_Now you go through St. Louie,  
Joplin, Missouri,  
And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty.  
You'll see Amarillo,  
Gallup, New Mexico,  
Flagstaff, Arizona-"_

_"Don't forget Winoa," _Natalia added as she kept staring out the window. Alfred turned to smile at her as Romano shot a glare her way, but she continued looking out the window, although Alfred could see the slight smile on her face as they started back up again.

"_Kingman, Barstow, San Bernandino," _

_"Won't you get hip to this timely tip," _Arthur gave in and sang along as well. He caught Alfred's eye and smirked.

"_When you make that California trip,  
Get your kicks, on route 66."_ The three of them started laughing before starting up the final verse.

"Alright!" Romano shouted, "You fuckers win. I'm stopping at the next McDonalds. Are you happy now?"

"Very," Alfred beamed at him as Arthur leaned back in his chair, a pleasant smirk on his face, and Natalia tried, and failed, to hide her smile.

Romano finally decided to stop for the night in Oklahoma City, just in time for the fireworks show. The four of them split up as soon as they arrived at the field just outside the city where the display was taking place, Romano and Arthur going one way while Alfred and Natalia went another, after the teens promised Arthur that yes, they'd be good this time for real, stop giving them that look, you're scaring the small children.

As soon as they were out of sight, Arthur set out to find a pay phone.

"_Hello?_" a clearly female voice answered.

"Uh, yes, hello…" he's sure he put the right number in, after all, it _was _technically his home phone too, "Is Francis there?"

"_He's a little…busy at the moment. May I ask whose calling?_"

"Arthur."

"_Arthur…"_

"Kirkland." He ground out. He should not have had to give his last name. In fact he should not have had to give his name at all.

"_Right. Francis,_" he heard her call out in a sing song voice, "_Some guy named Arthur wants to speak with you._"

So now he was just some guy? He'd only been gone for four days and already the frog was jumping into bed with whoever he could catch with his froggy tongue.

"_Yes hello?_" Francis was finally on the phone, after four days of calling him whenever he could, Arthur finally had him on the phone. He'd never been that hard to get a hold of before. "_Arthur, are you there?_"

"Wanker!" he shouted into the receiver before slamming it down and walking away from the phone.

"Girl troubles?" Romano smirked as Arthur stomped away from the phone booth.

"Sod off," he muttered as he continued on his way.

"Boy troubles?" the smirk increased.

"I said sod off!"

"You've been calling him at every stop we've made haven't you?" Romano asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong. Everything's perfect and happy as it should be."

"Che, fine, don't talk to me…I didn't want to hear about it anyway," Romano shoved his hands in his pockets as he continued on his way, which happened to be in step with Arthur.

"My, uh, roommate," Arthur said after a while, "Francis. We've been together for…a long time. I have been trying to call him, not because I miss him, and he clearly doesn't miss me, since he has some woman that I don't know over our apartment."

"Hm," Romano grunted after he heard the root of the problem, "Being in love sucks."

"…Yes, it does."

The fireworks had started, and they both simultaneously stopped when they noticed Alfred and Natalia sitting together on the hill, holding hands and looking content.

"…Sometimes, it's not so bad," Arthur conceded.

"Hm," Romano agreed.

"Excuse me!" an overly cheery voice shouted to them. Arthur looked over to find a man around his age with green eyes and brown, curly hair running over to them.

"Yes? What is it?" he snapped. This man had no right to be so happy when Arthur's night was anything but.

"I'm looking for my friend," he asked as if completely unaware of Arthur's foul mood, "Perhaps you've seen him? Lovino Vargas?"

"V-Vargas?"

"Yes! You know him?"

"I know of him, or at least his family." Few people on the east coast hadn't heard at least one terrifying tale of the Vargas crime family.

"Do you know where he is? I've been looking for him for days, but I've yet to see any part of him! I'm starting to get worried."

"Can't say that I have," Arthur admitted, "We don't usually, uh, run with types like the Vargas'."

"We?" the man asked, genuinely confused, "We who?"

"We as in the two of _us," _Arthur said as he gestured to where Romano was standing, or more accurately, where he was standing about a minute ago. Sometime during the conversation, Romano had disappeared.

"…Oh I get it," the man's infuriating smile was still plastered to his face, "An imaginary friend right? I don't really care; I just need to find Lovino before his grandfather does. You sure you haven't seen him?"

Arthur contemplated his question for a moment, "I'm…fairly certain I haven't laid eyes on him. Are you even sure he's here?"

"Yes, I've been following Gilbert who's been following Lovino, and Gilbert's _very _good at following people. Well if you do see Lovino, tell him I'm looking for him okay?" he waved cheerily before going off to bother someone else.

"Will do…" Arthur muttered as he turned in the opposite direction to find his lost hitchhiker. It didn't take long, as Romano had only gotten far enough to duck behind a row of outhouses when he made his escape.

"It seems you have boy troubles of your own, Lovino," Arthur stated as he cornered the crime family heir.

"I…" Romano sighed and stood up, brushing the dirt of his clothes as he did so, "I'm not going to hurt any of you. I just need to get away, but that stupid old man won't let me be!"

"I can relate, to the whole needing to get away thing, Alfred and Natalia too, to a certain extent. If you had wanted to hurt any of us, you would have done so by now, so as much as I hate to admit it, Alfred made a good judge of character."

Romano visibly relaxed, "Just, could you not tell the others? N-not that I care what they think; they just don't need to know things like that!"

Arthur sighed, suddenly feeling much older than he actually was, "Your secret's safe with me, Romano."

"So," Alfred asked as he handed Natalia some popcorn, "how are you doing?"

"The same as I was five minutes ago when you asked me."

"Just making sure nothing's changed since then…" They descended back into silence as Alfred found them a spot on the hill away from the other spectators, but still with a good view of the fireworks.

"I always thought it was cool," Alfred started rambling, "how my birthday was on the fourth of July. I could pretend the fireworks were for me and everyone was celebrating how awesome I was."

"That explains your abnormally large ego then," Natalia commented as she tossed some popcorn into her mouth.

"Yeah, but with friends like you and Arthur, I'm sure it all evens out in the end," he chuckled.

"…We're friends?"

"Of course, I mean, if you want to be friends, we could be friends, but you know, I've always assumed, so-"

"Friends is…good," she lightly placed her hand on top of his as the fireworks started.

"Yes, good. Friends is good," Alfred repeated, babbling despite the fireworks filling the void of silence.

After a while, Natalia asked, "Friends…give each other birthday gifts right?"

"Yeah, well, sometimes, but you don't have to-" before he could finish, she leaned over and kissed his cheek, pulling away before he could barely register that it had been there.

"Happy Birthday Alfred."


	6. Day 5: And Things Fall Apart

**And we're almost done! *cheers* Just one more chapter after this folks.**

**Characters for this chapter: America, England, Belarus, Romano, Prussia.  
**

**Enjoy.**

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* * *

_

_July 5, 20XX_

_I drove today. Alfred navigated, although the boy's head seemed to be elsewhere most of the day. I didn't get much of a chance to talk to him until lunch. I'm pretty sure he hates me now._

_Breakfast in Oklahoma City, lunch at a McDonalds on the road, dinner in Albuquerque. Ran into Gilbert again, and I finally remember where I've seen him before. Never matter._

_-Arthur Kirkland_

"Alfred, are you quite alright?" Arthur asked as Alfred played around with his fries, "You seem to be a bit out of it today."

"Just thinking…"

Arthur coughed, "Yes, well…good for you I suppose."

The silence continued until Arthur realized he missed having Alfred break it all the time. "I'm probably going to have to break up with Francis when we get back."

"That's nice…wait what?" Alfred dropped the fry and gave Arthur his full attention.

"Yes, well…these things happen. People fall in and out of love all the time."

"But you…and he…you just fit, you know? I really can't imagine one of you without the other."

"I've hated him ever since I first laid eyes on him," Arthur shrugged, "This was just the expected result."

"But you love him," Alfred protested, "You may hate him, but you love him. And he loves you."

"I thought that too…"

"Arthur what happened?"

"…I, there was…I called him yesterday, and there was a woman."

"So? He hangs out with girls all the time."

"At our flat? In the middle of the night?"

"I'm sure you're just being paranoid. There's another perfectly logical explanation that you're not seeing. He loves you. He wouldn't cheat on you."

"The world isn't that simple Alfred. I'm not going to stick around just for him to…"

"To what, break your heart?" he winced, but Alfred continued, "Francis isn't the kind of guy to do that."

"Of course he is. I've known Francis Bonnefoy much longer than you have, selfish prat."

"…Fine."

Arthur raised an eyebrow, "Fine what?"

"Fine. Break up with him. See if I care. I don't. But you can't come live with me when he kicks you out and you have nowhere else to go."

Arthur clenched his fists and stood up, "Fine, I wouldn't want to stay with a spoiled brat like you anyway!"

"Good, because I wouldn't want an old man like you to stay with me!"

"Yes, we've heard that part of the conversation," Romano whined when he appeared from the bathroom, "Can you finish this up so we can go? Natalia's already waiting in the car."

They both gave each other one last glare before tossing out their garbage and heading back to the car, not saying another word to each other for the rest of the drive.

* * *

Alfred and Romano opted to stay in their hotel room once they reached Albuquerque. Arthur, who wanted nothing to do with Alfred at the moment, dragged Natalia out to see the city.

"Yes, this is fine isn't it?" he chuckled hollowly as he pulled Natalia into the bar with him, "The two of us never spend any time together anyway."

"I wonder why," she mumbled under her breath as Arthur order them two drinks, "You know I'm underage?"

"You're eighteen right? In most countries, that's old enough, and good enough for me," he passed her the drink, which she took without another protest.

"Kirkland!" a shout echoed from the other end of the bar, "Just the guy I've been hoping to run into. Natalia leaned as far back in her seat and away from Gilbert as she could while Arthur turned to glare at the intrusion.

"What do you want?"

"The other day I finally remember where I've heard your name before. You're Francis's Arthur aren't you? Francis Bonnefoy?"

"I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about," Arthur turned back to his drink.

"Nah, you're definitely the guy. I know Francis's type and you are so very it Kirkland."

Now that he had mentioned it, Arthur vaguely recalled Francis's two friends, although he only met one of them. He had heard an awful lot about Gilbert though.

"Well, what do you want?"

"You remember the Italian I'm looking for?" he nodded, "Well I have this feeling that you just might know where he's hiding."

"What makes you so sure he's even in the city?"

Gilbert smirked, "I never said he was in the city, but thank you for conforming that thought. Anyway I figured you could help me smoke him out and everything, since I have another feeling that you, you know, could."

"Sod off Beilschmidt. I'm not in the mood to deal with your crap right now."

"Hey, you can just tell me what little corner of the world he's hiding in right now and I'll buy you the rest of the drinks for the night."

Arthur thought about it. He knew he would be drinking a lot tonight, and he was still very low on funds, as Alfred had paid for most of his share of the trip, and now they were fighting…letting Gilbert pay for drinks wasn't such a bad idea.

One look from Natalia though and Aflred's words came rushing back. Whatever this crazy trip of theirs was, the four of them were in it together.

"I said sod off Beilschmidt. I don't need your charity," he turned away from him, effectively ending the conversation.

"Have it your way Kirkland. I can find him on my own if I want to. Nice seeing _you_ again Natalia," she shot him a glare that he laughed off as he made his exit.

"Stupid tosser," Arthur downed his drink in one gulp and immediately ordered another one.

* * *

Alfred spent most of the night in the room playing the video games he ordered from the hotel while Romano sat in a nearby chair with a sketchbook open.

"Do you…want to talk about it?" he had asked at one point.

"There's nothing to talk about," Alfred answered bluntly, and Romano sighed in relief.

At around midnight the room phone rang, and Alfred answered it on instinct.

"Yello?"

"_Alfred, it's Natalia,_" she needlessly told him, "_Arthur's drunk and I need you to come take him home._"

"You were able to drag me back alright," Alfred picked up his controller and started playing again, "You shouldn't have a problem with him."

"_You were a nice drunk,_" was all she had to say for him to understand.

"Ah, right. Where are you?" He paused the game and jotted down the address before thanking her and hanging up. "Looks like I'm going out for a bit."

"Bring me back something to eat!" Romano shouted as Alfred shut the door behind him.

* * *

It took twenty minutes for Alfred to find the bar they were at. When he did finally show it, it was to Arthur passed out on the sidewalk while Natalia was being harassed by a group of bigger, much older men. Alfred wasn't pleased, and he was about to show them how not pleased he was, but Natalia beat him to it.

She looked up from the mass destruction she had caused to see Alfred staring at her in befuddlement.

"I, uh, was just about to do that…" he blushed and looked away.

"Thanks for the sentiment," she went about taking care of Arthur until Alfred came over and simply tossed him on his back. They silently made their way back to the hotel until, surprisingly, Natalia broke it this time.

"I'm not sure why you two where fighting, but he really does care about you. He spent most of the night complaining about you and Francis."

"…I know he just sometimes has a funny way of showing it," Alfred sighed and looked at her, "Are you okay?"

"Yes Alfred," the response was automatic by this point, "I'm fine."

"I mean, seriously," they stopped and turned to face each other, "Are you…going to be okay? I know this trip probably isn't what you had planned when I first mentioned it…"

"I wasn't expecting anything when you first mentioned it. I only agreed to go on it because I needed to get away, but, yes, Alfred, I think I'm going to be just fine."


	7. Day 6: California

**And so, 11, 895 words and 33 pages in MS word later, we have reached the end of this crazy trip. Thank you all for reading/commenting/faving/alerting and being generally awesome!  
**

**Characters for this chapter: America, England, Belarus, Romano, France, Spain.  
**

**Enjoy.**

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_July 6, 20XX_

_Alfred drove the rest of the way today, with Natalia navigating. I slept in the back most of the way there and only woke up for lunch. Romano informed me that nothing of interest happened._

_We arrived in Los Angeles today. Alfred and I have decided to go look for his parents, Romano and Natalia have decided to do their own thing. We'll meet back in the hotel room tonight._

_-Arthur Kirkland_

"_Bonjour! You have reached Francis and Arthur! Unfortunately we are busy in the bedroom right now having very kinky sex and cannot possible answer your call-"_

_"Stupid frog! Don't put that on there!"_

_"-But we will get back to you as soon as we're done, although that may take awhile. The English are very perverted."_

_"Delete that this instant!_

"What the hell am I doing anyway," Arthur muttered into the pay phone. As he went to hang it back up, he heard a voice shout "_Arthur, wait!_" Against his better judgment, Arthur put the phone back to his ear instead.

"Well what do you want?" he barked into the receiver.

The French voice at the other end chuckled. "_You do realize you are the one who called me?_" Arthur chose not to reply, so Francis continued, "_I am glad you called._"

"Yes, well, Alfred seems to have it in his head that you cheating on me isn't enough of a reason for me to leave your froggy arse."

"_I never cheated on you -_"

"Oh yes, right. Just happened to be walking some random girl home and she just tripped and fell into your bed is that it? I've known you for too long, Francis Bonnefoy; don't think I know how you operate!"

"_I've known you for quite some time as well, Arthur Kirkland. I trust you got well and drunk last night? I do hope Alfred and Natalia didn't get tired of your complaining and leave you tied to the bed naked in some sleazy motel room after running off with your wallet._"

"That was one time! And you never did return my pants."

"_The point is you've gotten everything out of your system now yes?"_

"I'm…not calling to apologize. Quite the opposite."

_"...May I please explain first?_"

"…You're not going to make me change my mind."

"_Do I ever?_"

Arthur remained silent once more, prompting Francis's explanation.

"_You weren't far off actually. It did start raining and I was walking her home."_

_"_So _our_ apartment is now home for whatever disease ridden-"

"_You remember the cute girl with the glasses who moved in on the third floor last week?_"

"…What cute girl?"

"Her name is Monique," Alfred helpfully shouted from outside the phone booth, "She's a French Literature major from Monaco who's studying in America for a bit."

"Yes thank you, this is a _private conversation_."

"She's dating some music grad student, in case you were wondering."

Arthur kicked the door to shut him up as Francis chuckled.

"_I met her walking home from work that night, recognized her and made polite conversation, in which she told me just that. It started raining on our way back, so I let her come in and dry off and gave her something warm to drink. You called while I was in the kitchen."_

"…I knew that."

"_I find your jealous side incredibly sexy you know…_"

"Thus why you go out of your way to make me so…not that I was jealous, mind you."

"_I am starting to miss you. When will you be back?_"

"That depends, we're already in California. Probably by the end of the week."

"_You know I love you, yes?_"

"Yes…I may possibly feel something quite similar myself."

"It's three words Artie," Alfred shouted, "just say them!"

"No one asked you!" he shouted back before muttering a quick, almost so soft you could miss it "I love you" into the phone.

* * *

Natalia and Romano found themselves sitting outside a café, eating something that wasn't hamburgers.

"Now that we're in California what are you going to do?" Natalia asked.

"Whatever I want, I guess," he leaned back and looked up at the clouds, "I wouldn't put it past Gilbert or my grandpa to follow me all the way out here, so I may have to keep moving."

"I hear Canada's lovely this time of year."

"Maybe. What about you? Going to head back to New York?"

She took a sip of her drink and looked away from him, "There's nothing for me there."

"Is that so? I thought Alfred was heading back to New York."

"I ended up at New York because I was following my love. I'm not about to make the same mistake again."

"You sure it would be a mistake this time?"

"Pardon?"

He shrugged, "I'm just saying, fate has a funny way of working sometimes. Sure you originally went to New York because Ivan was there, but that's also where you found Alfred, isn't it?"

Before they could discuss the topic further, a cry of "Lovi!" rang out through the streets, and Romano was tackle hugged by a passing stranger.

"Lovino, this is where you disappeared to!" he prattled on, "I was so worried about you when you just got up and ran away like that!"

"Shut up, bastard, get off of me!"

"You're real name is Lovino?" Natalia asked calmly.

"N-no, this stupid Spaniard clearly has me mistaken for somebody else!"

"Then how did you know he was a Spaniard?"

"…Lucky guess."

"Lovino! Do you not remember me? It's me, your _amore_, Antonio!"

Romano blushed and tried to pull away, "G-get off, you _clearly_ have me mistaken for someone else!"

"I cannot possibly have you mistaken for anyone other than my little Lovi," Antonio pulled away, but kept Romano close by holding his shoulders, "because I love him, and I love you, so clearly you and he must be the same person."

"Unless you're the kind of guy who hands out his love to anyone who passes by."

"Eh? But I don't. I only love you!"

"Then what the hell were you doing with Feliciano in that sleazy motel room!" Romano shouted, "Not that I know who that is, because I am not Lovino!"

"Motel room?"Antonio sat on the ground and leaned back, still keeping his grip firm on Romano, "You knew about that?"

"Yes, I mean no, because I am not Lovino. But Lovino did know about it, if that's what you're asking."

"That wasn't what you thought it was Lovi. Feli and I were just talking."

"Yes, because places like that are just known for their talking points!"

"No, listen, Lovi, we went there because it was one of the very few places we knew your grandpa would never think to look for us. Your brother heard about what you said to me the week before, about how you wanted to leave the family business for good."

"Yeah, I bet. Probably was after mine, I mean, Lovino's position and bodyguard too."

"Position, yes, because that needed to be filled, but I already promised you that if you wanted out, I would go with you, remember? Feliciano was offering to _help_ us!"

"He…what?"

"Yes! He, Ludwig, and I had a plan and everything, but you went and ran away on us, and that made your grandpa panic and send Gilbert to chase you down, so I followed Gilbert, because I wanted to find you again, and I did!" Antonio went back in for another hug and Romano put up less of a resistance this time.

"Does that mean…Gilbert's here too?"

"Yes, he should be around here somewhere…do you want to see him?"

"Hell no!"

"Okay," he leaned in a placed a kiss on Romano's nose, "Then we should get out of here as soon as we can."

"I, uh…" he glanced up at where Natalia was still sitting, observing them, "Can I say goodbye first?"

Antonio's smile brightened, if that were possible, "Of course you can. I'm so happy you managed to make friends Lovino!"

"Shut up bastard!" Romano stood up and escaped Antonio's grip before turning to face Natalia. "Th-thanks for bringing me here."

"That wasn't my choice to make…but you're welcome, Lovino was it?"

"Yes," Antonio chimed in, "Lovino Romano Vargas."

"Bastard shut up!" he hissed, "About that…"

"I'm sure you had your reasons, but your secret is safe with me."

"Arthur may already…whatever, doesn't matter. Tell them I said…something. And thanks, I guess."

"I'll pass along the message."

Antonio grabbed Romano's hand and beamed at him, "You ready to go."

"Yeah, let's go," he gave one final wave to Natalia before disappearing into the crowded street.

Natalia contemplated telling Alfred about Lovino, but decided against it. Not because he'd care, although it might damage his hero complex to know he had let a criminal in his car, which wasn't a bad thing, but because he would be the kind of person to chase Lovino down, crime heir on the run or not. If she was being perfectly honest with herself, she quite liked Alfred where he was.

* * *

Alfred hit his head against the wall again just for good measure, "This whole trip was a waste…"

"Don't think of it that way," Arthur commented, "And stop hitting your head against the wall. You really can't stand to lose the brain cells."

"But it _was_," he looked at the paper the nice lady at the front desk had given him when he asked about his parents, their new address somewhere up in Alaska written on it, "I dragged you and Natalia and Romano all this way to search for them and they weren't even here…"

"First off, you didn't drag Romano anywhere. You picked him up. Secondly, even though your original idea sounded like a preposterous waste of time, this trip was…not as bad as I thought it would be."

Alfred looked at him, sparkle in his eye, "Really?"

"Yes, really. It was certainly interesting, perhaps something I could maybe consider writing about, and I haven't heard Natalia complain since we left New York."

Alfred blushed a little and glanced down the street at that comment, "I guess so."

"Besides," Arthur continued and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "we can always save the Alaska trip for next summer."

* * *

**The End.**

Final Count:**  
**

Words: 11, 895  
Characters: 54, 567  
With Spaces: 65,936  
Paragraphs: 585  
Lines: 952

All Pairings Implied (Most obvious to least obvious): France/England, Spain/Romano, Belarus-Russia, America/Belarus, Monaco/Austria, Poland/Lithuania.  
All Characters Mentioned (Order of mention): **America**, **Belarus**, **England**, Japan, Lithuania, Russia, **France**, Canada, **Romano**, **Prussia**, **Switzerland**, **Liechtenstein**, Italy, Rome, **Monaco**, **Spain**, Austria, Germany.  
Cut Characters: Ukraine, China, Korea, Hungary.


End file.
